ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Estrogens has traditionally been known as the female hormone, but this idea has been challenged in early 1990’s and an essential physiological role for estrogen in male fertility was identified. Phytoestrogens are naturally occurring non-steroidal plant chemicals that can act like the female hormone estrogen. The herbs ( anise alfalfa and vervain ) chosen in this study contain phytoestrogens. OBJECTIVE: Previous studies demonstrated controversy of the effects of phytoestrogens on the rat testes .Hence, the present investigation was undertaken to investigate the influence of typical dose of herbs containing phytoestrogen on the rat testis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-four apparently normal mature male rats were divided into four groups of 6 animals each. The first "control" group received only 4ml of distilled water as a placebo. The second group received 40mg/kg of anise seed; the third group received 53.3 mg/kg of dried herb of vervain and the fourth group received 400 mg /kg of alfalfa seeds. All experimental groups received the doses through orogastric tube daily for fourteen days. Testicular histology was evaluated by light and enzyme histochemistry. Plasma FSH and testosterone concentrations were taken to support our results. RESULTS: Histological examination of anise, alfalfa and vervain – treated groups showed an increase in the height of germinal epithelia. There was marked lipoprotein lipase activity in the whole of the interstitial tissue which is more in amount in experimental groups than that in control group. Acid phosphatase granules were infiltered the seminiferous epithelia mildly in control group , moderately in anise and vervain groups and markedly in alfalfa group. The number of interstitial cells showing marked acid phosphatase activity was higher in all experimental groups than that in control group. Alkaline phosphatase exhibited intense activity in the boundary tissue of the seminiferous tubules in testes of control and experimental groups but it appeared thicker in the latter. CONCLUSION: The low dose and short duration of treatment used in our study made these phytoestrogen – containing herbs to have a stimulatory effect on leydig cell steroidogenesis. This study also demonstrated that aniseed being the most potent of the three herbs followed by alfalfa in stimulating testosterone synthesis. This is possibly attributed to the coumarin constituent of aniseed and alfalfa. KEY WORDS: phytoestrogen-containing herbs, testis, acid phosphatase, alkaline phosphatase, lipoprotein lipase
The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of lead exposure on hemopoetic system (through the index delta-Aminolevulinic acid dehydratase ?-ALAD activity & hemoglobin concentration (Hb) ) and on iron status (levels of iron Fe, Ferritin Fr, Total iron binding capacity TIBC, percentage of transferine saturation TF%) in 44 Iraqi worker at lead batteries factory. Workers divided into two groups: smokers(n=21) mean aged (37.33±4.82 year)and non smokers(n=23) mean aged(40.78±7.89 year) and 45 healthy subjects mean aged (33.97±5.08)as control group . Activity of ?-ALAD ratio shows significant decrease (p ? 0.05) ,while Hb and hematocrit Hct were non significant (p ? 0.05) in smoker workers more than non smoker as compared to control . The r
... Show MoreIncident laser power and concentration effects on fluorescence emission from DCM dye in PMMA polymer have been investigated. Different concentrations of the dye were used. It was found that the fluorescence intensity increased with increasing of the concentration of the dye, with a red shift. In addition, it was found that the fluorescence intensity increased with the increase of the incident laser power I0.
It is well known that monotherapy does not provide therapeutic response in all hypertensive. Somepatients show an excellent response, while in others there is a poor response. Combinationantihypertensive therapy is administered when blood pressure is inadequately controlled bymonotherapy to achieve a balanced and additive antihypertensive effect with minimum adverse effects.Both angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and dihydropyridine type of calcium antagonistsare well established and widely used in monotherapy. An understanding of differences in themechanism of action of these agents allows a logical approach for the use of these agents as acombination therapy. This study was designed to evaluate the possible beneficial
... Show MoreThe Morphological description and histological structure of olfactory organ in barn owl have been studied. The results of morphological description showed that the olfactory organ in the animal under study have pair of external nares ovale shape which lead to pair of nasal chambers which are located at the dorsal surface of head under eyes level. The chambers are conical in their shape the anterior end is narrow while the posterior end is enlarger the nasal chambers open to the oral cavity through the internal nares. The results also showed that the nasal cavity contains three chonchae which represented by rosteral chonchae, elongated middle chonchae and the posterior nasal chonchae called olfac
... Show MoreThis study showed that liver of Passer domesticus bilobed the right lobe is cardiac shape while the left is elliptical and the liver colour is brown. It is occupying most of anterior and middle parts of abdominal cavity. The liver is surrounded by Glison capsule which is represented by a thin layer of connective tissue with septum extend peripherally in liver tissue. The liver tissue is formed from polyhedral hepatocyte arrange as irregular hepatic cord surrounded the central vein. Each cell contains one or two nucleus with one or more nucleolus. The blood sinusoid appeared between the liver cells .The hepatic cord arranged radially around the central vein. The portal area is clear and surrounded by connective tissue. Gallbladder is almost
... Show MoreIn this rescrch,new mixed ligand Schiff base complexes of Mn(II),Co(II),Ni(II),Cu(II), Cd(II), and Hg(II) are formulated from the Schiff base( L)resulting from o-phathalaldehyde(o-PA) with p-nitroaniline(p-NA)as a primary ligand and anthranilic acid as a subordinate ligand. Diagnosis of prepared Ligand and its complexes is done by spectral methods mass spectrometer;1H -NMR for ligand Schiff base FTIR, UV-Vis, molar conductance, elemental microanalyses, atomic absoption and magnetic susceptibility. The analytical studies for the all new complexes have shown octahedral geometries. The study of organicperformance of ligand Schiff base and its complexes show various activity agansit four type of bactria two gram (+) and two gram (-) .
The study aimed to evaluate whether Enalapril has any effects on the testicular tissue of the albino male mice which received or did not receive treatment with Enalapril.
Mature mice were divided into three groups: control group which fed with 0.1mg of normal saline, the second group was orally fed with 10 mg/Kg of Enalapril drug while the third group was fed with 20 mg/Kg of drug, one time a day for 30 successive days by using gavage tube (0.1ml). The histological sections were performed and the slides were examined using the light microscope.
The present study result of light microscopic images of mice testes cross sections which treated with 20 mg/Kg of Enalapril showed coagulated necrosis on spermatogonia
... Show MoreThis study aimed to determine the effects of age, gender, and allergen type on serum immunoglobulin E (IgE) levels in asthma (AS) and allergic rhinitis (AR) patients. Sixty AS patients, 52 AR patients, and 61 controls were enrolled in the study. Sera of participants were assessed for total IgE level and specific IgE antibody against four allergen types (animal dander, grasses, mites, and molds). The results revealed that median level of total IgE was significantly increased in AS (218.9 IU/mL; p-value < 0.001) and AR (244.3 IU/mL; p-value < 0.001) patients compared to controls (167.1 IU/mL), while, there was no significant difference between AS and AR patients (p-value = 0.270). Logistic regression
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